Lord Glenconner, who died in 2010, frequently hosted the Queen's late sister on glamorous trips to the Caribbean.
The local procurer of young men, known as the Contessa (Anne Bancroft), immediately pounces, introducing the widow Stone to very handsome, very young Italian men who would love to be of service to her in any way they can and wouldn't mind accepting new wardrobes, glamorous trips and cold, hard cash in return (but only so their mothers can have those expensive life-saving operations, of course).
Often, their lives come across as a perfectly organized catalog or magazine, chock full of glamorous trips, family portraits with gorgeous lighting, and seemingly perfect (and perfect-looking) kids.
But then reality sets in and before you know it your once-glamorous trip is reduced to exhausting transit (Think: 15-hour flights), complex navigation (Underground in Tokyo, anyone?) and sightseeing that focuses on the inside of an office building.
Of course George explains that he chose a cheap seaside hotel room for the honeymoon night because they want to save their money for their glamorous upcoming trip to Venice.
"All that snakeskin and satin," she said, seemed to her the pinnacle of chic, suitably glamorous for a trip abroad.
Their Europa League campaign brought them nothing more glamorous than a trip to the Urals and they have gone through two managers since Roberto Martinez posed with the trophy.
Note: Junkets are about as glamorous as a trip to Italy with your aged parents.
This week's trip, with glamorous cities like Berlin, Rome, London and Paris on the itinerary, is already being characterized by his critics as a summer vacation while gasoline rises above $4 a gallon and Americans feel the pinch at grocery stores.
And certainly not all of the trips are glamorous.
